Worldwide, a heart defect is the most
common human birth defect –
approximately 25% of defects affect
the heart’s valves, falling into a category
known as valvular heart disease. In this
video, Heart to Heart volunteer Frank
Cetta of the Mayo Clinic takes us to
Kaliningrad, the site of our most recent
training mission. Meet Veronika, a
10-year-old girl affected by a rare valvular
heart defect known as Ebstein Anomaly.

“Heart to Heart is the model that all other organizations emulate for delivering sustainable cardiac surgery to needy children in the world. Heart to Heart’s approach and accomplishments are to be admired and applauded by the global community.”

James L. Cox, MD
President Emeritus, American Association for Thoracic Surgery

“Operate on a child and you save a life. Teach a team
to operate and you save thousands of children’s lives.
Build a national infrastructure, and you save tens of thousands of lives.”

Josie Everett, Executive Director
Heart to Heart Global Cardiac Care

“Heart to Heart’s success should not be measured by the number of successful operations during any given mission, but by the successful operations that our colleagues perform after we leave.”